New Edition of Hoofed Mammals of British Columbia Now Available

A new edition of David Shackleton's Hoofed Mammals of British Columbia is now available.  Published by the Royal BC Museum, this book covers all wild species of hoofed mammals in the province.  The Museum website says: "This revised edition contains updated information on populations, conservation status, taxonomy and where to find each species. It also includes a selection of colour photographs."

Read more here.  

 David Shackleton is an advisor to E-Fauna BC, and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia. 

E-Flora BC: BEC data now updated

 Ecological Framework for big-leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)

The Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC) Data is updated yearly on E-Flora and the latest version (2013) has now been incorporated. This version represents considerable polishing and corrections by the provincial BEC team and by E-Flora.  This updated data has now been incorporated into the statistical calculations for the ecological framework tables that we present for many species on E-Flora BC, resulting in greater accuracy of the statistics we present.  The ecological framework tables provide insights into the ecological parameters for species covered by the BEC data.

E-Fauna BC: New bird maps now available

 American Robin.  View the BC distribution map.

Thanks to data sharing by several data providers, we have now posted the first E-Fauna BC bird maps.   Distribution information from 1) eBird (black dots), 2) the Breeding Bird Atlas of BC (red dots), 3) the BC Marine Bird Atlas (blue dots), 4) the Coastal Water Bird Survey (green dots), and 5) the E-Fauna photo records (yellow crosses) is displayed. For many species, detailed mapping by Jamie Fenneman is also available.

E-Flora BC/E-Fauna BC News

E-Flora and E-Fauna BC will be temporarily unavaiable while an electrical upgrade is carried out at UBC.  Check back tomorrow. The sites should be up by 11 am.

Birds of British Columbia: New Articles Now Available

 Red-Flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus), photo by Greg Stuart.

Thanks to the hard work of BC birders, three new bird articles are now available on E-Fauna BC.  The information presented in these articles is also presented on the atlas pages for the species.

First Record of the Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus) for British Columbia and Canada  (by Rick Toochin)

First Record of the Fieldfare (Turdus pillaris) in British Columbia (by Rick Toochin)

 Status and Occurrence of Stellar's Eider (Polysticta stelleri) in British Columbia (by Rick Toochin and Louis Havilland)

These articles include complete documentation for the occurrence of these species in BC, including listings of all sightings.

Changes Coming to E-Flora BC: new mapping and new presentation!

We are about to update E-Flora BC.  Every now and then, we make adjustments to improve the site, either for clarity, to add content, or because our software has changed. This time around, we will be updating the interactive maps (new software) and changing our species listings for vascular plants (for clarity).

The ESRI interactive mapping software we use on E-Flora has been updated, so we are replacing the old software with the new.  This means that the full-sized interactive maps that we display will be a little bit more user friendly. They will look similar, but should be more intuitive for using as ESRI has improved on their map presentation.

Also, we are updating the way search results for species listings are displayed. Presently, when you conduct a search, a list of species/subspecies/varieties appears on the search results pages.  This week we are shifting this presentation so that the search results page will display only species listings.  Sub-taxa (subspecies and varieties) will instead by linked to from the species pages.  Each atlas page will tell you which sub-taxa are present in BC with direct links to those pages.

In keeping with this new presentation, we have already adjusted our maps so that the map that appears with each species page is 'the species map'. That is, it shows all distribution dots for that species--including subspecies and varieties. Sub-taxa maps will still be available on the sub-taxa pages.

This new presentation is an organizational change, and should allow you to quickly tell which species are present in the province. 

Featured Plant Species: Giant Hogweed

 

 Giant Hogweed flowers display the typical umbel pattern of plants in the carrot family (Apiaceae)

Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is often in the news these days. This introduced and invasive species has been found in BC in the southwest corner of the province, where the very tall plants are easily spotted along roadsides and in old pastures and fields.  Plants range in height from 1.5 m to an impressive 5 m.  Because this species is phototoxic, and can cause serious burns and painful blisters, it is targeted by invasive species councils and municipalities in BC for eradication. The related, but much smaller and native, cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum) may also be photo toxic (Ganders. pers. com. 2011). It is very similar in appearance and the two species can overlap in height.

If you find giant hogweed, we recommend that you do not handle the plant. Take protective measures to remove it--cover up and wear gloves and be careful not to come into contact with the stems, flowers or leaves. 

Find out which other plant species in BC are invasive or problem species. Visit the E-Flora BC Invasive, Problem and Noxious species list.

To view the atlas pages for other members of the carrot family of plants on E-Flora BC, type 'Apiaceae' in the Quick Search box on the home page.